
Copyright }I? 



CPPyRIGHT DEPOSIT: 



School Buildings 



By 
WALTER H. PARKER 

A. A. I. A. 



» « 
» » » 



San Francisco 

WHITAKKR & RAY-WIGGIN CO. 

1912 



\ 






Copyright by 
WHITAKER & RAY-WIGGIN CO. 

1912 



(gCLA332197 



3 



PREFACE 

The purpose of this publication is to familiarize 
those interested, architects, schoolboards, instructors 
and students, of the requirements and the solution of 
such requirements, in the successful planning of school 
buildings. There is no claim to originality in any part 
of the work, there being at the present time many able 
authorities on school buildings in thi^ country and in 
others, all of whom agree upon various theories and 
the practical application of such, to the extent that 
certain practice has been arrived at, the derivation of 
which may be readily retraced by any thinking in- 
dividual familiar with the subject and having at his 
disposal all of the works upon the subject. 

Where statements are made herein, they are based 
upon the composite standards of practice as advocated 
by the various authorities. The book is namely a 
memoranda reference book, for those interested, and 
as such, contains information readily found in brief, 
eliminating miscellaneous detail. 



GENERAL INDEX 



A 



Page. 



A-iR— Amount Eequired Per Pupil, ventilation 63 

Velocity Entering Class-Eooms - "d 

Washer ^^ 

Inlets — Location — • ^^ 

Apparatus Eooms J^ 

Architects — General Discussion ;|:;j 

Method of Selection ^' 

Assembly Halls — Grrammar Schools — -- ^' 

High Schools ^q 

Location - - 

Seating Capacity, per sq. ft. Area ^^ 

LigWing \l 

Exits and Galleries — ^^ 

B % 

Balance Eoom ^^ 

Baths — Shower j}! 

Biological Laboratory - ^^ 

Blackboards it 

Kind of and Size ^^ 

Trimmings - ^^ 

Botanical Laboratory ■— ^^ 

Building — Site |^ 

Exposure j^ 

Classification ^^ 

Frame „ 

Semi-Fireproof •— — ' 

Fireproof . . 

Business Department - --" - ^* 

C 

Cafeteria— (See Lunch Eooms) |3 

Ceilings— Height of y 

Color (See Tinting of Walls) f^ 

Chalk Trough ^J 

Chemistry — ^Laboratory 2? 

Tables and Equipment - *'"^^ 

Lecture Rpom ,..,.. ,..„,,...,„..,„,...,-...-,.,...."— .—r.r-,——.-^. vv 



ii . INDBX (Continued) 

Page. 

Class Eooms — Size of 25 

Method of Lighting 27 

Grammar Schools 27 

High Schools 43-44 

Classification of Buildings 10 

Coat Eacks 31 

Coat Eooms — (See Wardrobes) 30-42 

Commercial Department 44 

Composition Floors 35 

Competitions 77 

Concrete Buildings 9 

Cooking Eoom — (See Domestic Science) 51 

Corridors 23 

Location 24 

Size 24 

Cost of School Buildings 11 

D 

Dark Eooms 50 

Decoration — (See Tinting of Walls) 40 

Demonstration Tables 49 

Domestic Science 38 

Grammar Schools 38 

High Schools 51 

Cooking 51 

Sewing 52 

Doors 19-26-35 

Drawing Eooms — Free Hand 53 

Mechanical 54 

Drinking Fountains 70 

Ducts — Heating and Ventilation 65-66 

E 

Electric Lighting 71 

Electric Wiring 72 

Equipment — In General 58 

Exits to Assembly Halls 19 

Exposure of Class Eooms 14 

F 

Fan Eoom 66 

Fireproof Buildings 7 

Fire Protection 8 

Fire Escapes 7 



IND:^X (Continued) iii 

Page. 

Floors 24-35-36 

Foot Warmers 25-65 

Frame Buildings 7 

Furnaces 60 

G 

Galleries or Balconies for Assembly Halls „ 24 

Grounds 13 

Gymnasium — Grammar Schools 40 

High Schools 57 

H 

Hand Bails 22 

Heating and Ventilation 60-61 

Height of School Booms .^ 25 

High School Buildings — General Discussion 41 

Hose Beels 71 



Indirect Heating _ 64 

Inlets — Location 66 

J 

Janitor's Boom 37 



Kindergarten 37 

Kitchen 



Laboratories — Chemistry 45 

Physics 49 

Science 50 

Landings 21 

Laws — Beferring to Bequirements for School Buildings 77 

Lighting — Direction, Quantity, etc., for Class Boom 27-30-44 

Direction, Quantity, etc., for Assembly Hall 22 

(See Stairways and Corridors) 

Lockers 42-59 

Lunch Booms 33 



iv IND:eX (Continued) 

Page. 

Manual Training — Grammar Schools 39 

High Schools 34 

Maple Floors 

Mechanical Training 54 

Mechanical Drawing ~ 54 

Number of Pupils per Class Eoom 25 

Number of Pupils per Sq. Ft. Assembly Hall 20 

O 

Outlets — Vent _ 66 

P 

Painting — (See Tinting of Walls) 40 

Physics — ^Laboratory 49 

Tables and Equipment 48 

Lecture Eoom 50 

Physical Geography Laboratory 50 

Planning - 15 

Play Eooms 38 

Plumbing — (See Sanitation) 67 

Principal's Office 34 

Principles op Ventilation _.. 63 

Program Clocks 73 

B 

EisERS OF Stairs 21 



Sanitation - 67 

School Eooms— Size of Grammar Schools 27 

Size of High Schools 43-44 

Science — Lecture Eoom 50 

Laboratory 50 

Seats — Assembly Hall - - - 20 

Sewing Eoom ^ 52 

Shops — (See Manual Training) 39-54 

Shower Baths - 70 

Site for Building - 13 



INDEX (Continued) v 

Page. 

Slate Blackboards 32 

Special Rooms 37 

Stairways — Size of 21 

Location 22 

Lighting — Number of, etc, 22 

Stall Partitions for Toilets' 67 

Stand Pipes 71 

Store Eooms 48 

Study Halls 43 

T 

Teachers' Closet 26 

Teachers' Eoom 34 

Toilet Fixtures — (See Sanitation) 67 

Telephones ^. 73 

Tinting of Walls ^ 40 

Toilet Rooms 34 

U 

Urinals 69 

V 

Vacuum Cleaning Apparatus _ 74 

W 

Walls — Covering 36 

Walls — Tinting _ 40 

Wardrobes — (Cloak Rooms) 30-42 

Windows — Class Rooms 28 

Windows — Assembly Hall 19 

Wainscot z5 



4 



INTRODUCTORY 

There is no division of public or semi-public build- 
ings that has received more theoretical study and the 
practical application of such study than the public 
school, especially in the larger cities. In less popu- 
lated districts and in small towns, various makeshifts 
are frequently spoken of as educational edifices, the 
failure to build something creditable being attributed 
to the architect's neglect to insist upon w^hat he be- 
lieves to be the correct solution of ^he problem, and 
partly to his seeming inability to overcome certain 
unfavorable local conditions entirely out of his realm 
of influence. However, in the more thoughtful com- 
munities, new educational buildings are now approach- 
ing a higher degree of efficiency, due to the advance- 
ment of ideas of the architects themselves, and to the 
growing interest that the public in general is taking in 
municipal and civic improvement. Too much thought 
upon the principles of planning good construction and 
environment cannot be spent upon buildings whose 
occupants are unconsciously absorbing everything 
about them. 

The building itself should be so designed that it 
will be safe, comfortable and convenient for its oc- 
cupants, and arranged so that it may be economically 
administered and kept clean. It should be as near 
fire-proof as possible. 



FRAME BUILDINGS 

Little may be said concerning frame buildings, as 
their use is rapidly being dispensed with, except in the 
scattered districts, or where suitable materials are too 
expensive to use. 

It may seem useless to devise extensive fire pro- 
tection for such buildings, but burnable as they may 
be, it is possible to design them in such a manner that 
they may be emptied in a very short time by suitable 
corridors and the proper number and location of stair- 
ways. Fire-escapes are, theoretically, of valuable as- 
sistance, and in some States are required by the law, 
but their inefficiency may be readily demonstrated by 
the excavation of the building under normal condi- 
tions, let alone a similar performance when excitement, 
fire or smoke or other unusual elements prevail. 

Every two-story building containing more than six 
rooms should have, irrespective of fire-escape, two well 
lighted stairways, located at each end of the building 
if possible, and opening at grade entrance, in addition 
to light and ample corridor space. 

FIRE-PROOF SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

A fire-proof building is one composed and built up 
of entirely fire-proof materials throughout, including 
every material used in its construction or decoration. 
There are very few fire-proof school buildings, strictly 
speaking, but there are many whose fire risk is reduced 



8 • SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

to a minimum and which for all practical purposes 
furnish adequate protection to its inmates, and which 
may be called fire-proof. 

From fire-proof to combustible, buildings may be 
constructed at all different stages and degrees of effi- 
cient fire-proofing. For school purposes and the eco- 
nomical disposition of municipal funds for the purpose 
of fire and panic protection, school buildings need be 
of fire-proof construction only to the extent that the 
inmates of the building are protected until they may 
have had reasonable time to leave the building, and 
sufficient to guarantee a depreciation in damage to 
property of not more than 10 per cent (in the event of 
outside protection being available). The above pro- 
tection will be found sufficient; in fact, ample for all 
practical needs. In other words, a building whose pro- 
tected frame work is concrete or steel, with brick, 
terra cotta or concrete walls, floors and roof terra cotta, 
concrete or metal lath and plaster curtain and partition 
walls, metal or concrete stairs of ample width and 
number, will be sufficient to meet the above require- 
ments. Add to this metal or metal covered trim 
throughout, metal furniture, etc., and the entire build- 
ing would be fire-proof throughout, not only from with- 
in, but from without. 

All school buildings should be built with fire-proof 
walls, and all corridors and stairs should be of fire- 
proof construction. This would insure a reasonable 
protection against injury to inmates from fire and 
panic, and with the other customary fire protecting ap- 
paratus usually provided for should be sufficient 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 9 

to protect the building, in all probability, against 
great damage. This type of building or modifi- 
cation of it, is certainly good and safe enough 
for the average community. Some of the new 
school buildings recently erected in San Francisco 
are similar to the above type, and others go one step 
better in that the entire first floor, including the ceil- 
ing (which is also the second floor) is made of fire- 
proof materials and in all cases the partitions are 
protected with metal lath and the customary plaster, 
in preference to the wood. There is no particular 
objection to a wood floor for school buildings, as there 
is little danger of fire reaching it from floor or ceiling, 
and it will not readily burn of itself. However, in a 
building with wood floors, the ceiling and walls of the 
heater room should be fire-proofed, or better yet, the 
heating apparatus removed to a separate building. 

There is a common belief among some that a con- 
crete building is fire-proof, and it is as far as the 
concrete goes, which is usually the shell only, the 
partitions, roof, trim, etc., being of wood, and, of 
course, subject to attack from without as well as from 
within by fire, as in any other so-called "fire-proof" 
building. A concrete building is no more fire-proof 
than a brick one of the same construction. Concrete, 
however, is one of our most accessible and most dur- 
able building materials and is being used plain or 
reinforced, as the case may be, to a great extent in the 
construction of school buildings. 

The following classification may be of interest, as 
it embodies every kind of a school structure in degrees. 



10 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

from the commonest frame building up to the abso- 
lutely fire-proof building. 

CLASSIFICATION OF BUILDING 

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SCHOOL BUILDINGS 11 

COST OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

The cost of school buildings, or any kind of build- 
ing is dependable upon local conditions, including 
the cost of both labor and material, which will be dif- 
ferent for each locality. No classification or cost basis 
is of great value, and it is usually found that a fire- 
proof building or one semi-fire-proof, will cost more 
than one that is not, although the contrary can be cited 
in a few cases, due to the exceptionally low markets 
of some kinds of material. 

Buildings are erected at a less cos? in the East 
than in the West, being nearer the centers of available 
material and cheaper labor; and costs per pupil, costs 
per class room or cubic contents of a standard type 
of building will compare there very satisfactorily. 
However, on the Pacific Slope, and in the smaller 
cities, buildings under class "C" (see page 10) will 
rarely be completed under a cost of 12^^ cents per 
cubic foot, and those under class "B" and "A" still 
more per cubic foot. 

In estimating the cost upon a cubic foot basis, the 
total cubic contents are taken from the grade up to 
total height of building if same has a flat roof, or from 
grade up to one-half the pitch if the roof be other than 
flat. Figuring on a cubic foot basis is only approxi- 
mate, but such computation is useful on account of its 
simplicity and will often save much time by confining 
the designer to conservative limits if his unit cubic 
foot cost price is reasonably correct. 

A better way to arrive at the cost of proposed 



12 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

school building is to segregate each trade called for in 
its construction, and estimate them separately, the 
total, plus contractor's profit, being a fair estimate of 
its ultimate cost. 

ARCHITECTS 

In the largest cities of the United States, the de- 
signing and superintending of construction of school 
buildings is done by the municipality or special de- 
partments, under the control of the so-called "School 
Authorities" of the present time, Wheelwright of Bos- 
ton, Snyder of New York, Ittner of St. Louis, Perkins 
of Chicago, etc. 

These men have, at some time, been at the head 
of one or more of the various departments which go to 
complete any building; the designing, planning and 
superindendence of the building itself, as well as its 
mechanical, heating and ventilating systems, which 
require competent engineers and subordinates. 

Other large cities and all of the smaller ones, on 
down to the vallages and towns, employ architects to 
do their work for them, either entire or in part, to the 
extent that in almost ev^ry large locality there can 
be found architects who are fitted for this kind of 
work, schooled by extensive study of the best ex- 
amples of school structures throughout the country, 
and of the theories and practice involved in modern 
planning, along with such personal experience they 
may have had with their own work. Any architect 
of ability and experience can design and superintend 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 13 

the construction of a modern school building, it is 
true, the result depending upon his familiarity with 
the subject, and his ability and skill in handling it. 
It is well, however, that he may have the aforesaid 
qualities before undertaking any large permanent im- 
provement. 

BUILDING SITE 

The conditions affecting the site of a school build- 
ing are variable, depending principally upon the size 
of the city or town, its relation to land valudte. Smaller 
centers of population are more fortunate in this re- 
spect as it frequently happens that from half to an 
entire block may be obtained for educational edifices, 
while in New York school buildings are built of some 
height, with play grounds on the roof, for economic 
reasons, however, and not by choice. 

Jt is highly desirable to locate a school building 
on as large a lot as possible, as an abundance of light 
and air has great influence upon the health and dis- 
position of the pupils. The site should be remote as 
far as possible from congested railroad centers, dan- 
gerous crossings, factories, and other distracting in- 
fluences. Play grounds will be required for both 
sexes ; there seems to be no limit to their size, also no 
definite rules for a minimum and maximum. If some 
space in front of the building may be spared for grass 
plots, trees, parking, etc., so much the better, as the 
charm of any edifice is increased or diminished by its 
surroundings. Public school buildings, especially those 



14 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

provided with assembly halls, are rapidly becoming 
the centers of the social intercourse, due to the ad- 
vancing ideas of the American people, and as such, are 
entitled to the most conspicuous location available for 
such purposes. 

EXPOSURES 

No universal definite rules for exposures to class 
rooms have been found, for in some localities condi- 
tions may reverse otherwise desirable solutions to the 
problem of exposure for class rooms. In some locali- 
ties where the sun is very intense, north and east light 
have been used whenever possible, eliminating sunlight 
entirely, and with very desirable results. 

Whatever preference is given for exposure, it may 
be said that it is generally impracticable to have each 
and every class room with the same exposure, al- 
though schools have been built upon that basis. 

The best results will usually be found by placing 
the building so as not to coincide with the points of 
the compass; otherwise a room on the north side, if 
lighted from that direction only, is entirely cut off 
from the sun, while the rooms with a south exposure 
may receive so much sunlight as to be uncomfortable 
in warm weather. By the above arrangement, east 
rooms will get some sunlight dviring the day, and a 
frontage which will make the southeast rooms the 
most desirable, the northeast and the northwest next, 
and the southwest possibly the least desirable of all. 
These distinctions should not be carried to extremes, 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 15 

however, but in choosing a site they may be kept in 
mind. 

If the lot has already been provided, school author- 
ities should give their architect their preference as to 
the exposures with reference to class rooms, and 
should be satisfied if he follows their desires to a rea- 
sonable extent, as he has many things to keep in mind 
of equal importance in the solution of the entire prob- 
lem. 

PLANNING ^ 

In most buildings the controlling elements are 
those relating to planning, equipment and construction; 
the principal parts being in this particular case the 
class rooms themselves and communications, with as 
many secondary rooms of such size as to accommodate 
the purpose for which they are intended. In planning, 
the exterior need not be seriously considered (except 
unconsciously, as it invariably is when handled by 
those fortunate enough to see in elevation and feel in 
plan), but in order that the finished building may 
harmonize with the surroundings, and before actual 
working drawings have been started, some study 
should be made of the grades, exposures, approaches, 
even, sky line, in some cases, and other physical con- 
ditions that may make or disfigure architecturally, an 
otherwise correctly appointed building. It is well to 
recognize the fact that good proportions and lines of 
any building do not depend upon its cost, and the re- 
sult, if well studied, can be harmonious to the sur- 



16 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

roundings, and consistent with the materials avail- 
able; in other words, an attractive building need not 
necessarily be an expensive one. 

So-called one-story buildings are becoming very 
popular, especially in buildings of not more than six- 
teen (16) rooms, and quadrangle effects are much 
sought after. Such an arrangement has many ad- 
vantages, especially in mild climates, but will not be 
found as economical in construction, or as convenient 
of communication as buildings more compact. 

A compact plan is one without waste space. If a 
ten (10) foot corridor is wide enough for the purpose 
for which it is intended, one twelve (12) feet wide is 
waste. If class rooms open from one side only of a 
corridor, where the corridor is of sufficient width to 
accommodate class rooms on both sides and still be 
properly lighted, such an arrangement is not economi- 
cal. 

The size and value of the property will usually 
determine the type of building best suited. An im- 
portant item is the possibility or probability of addi- 
tions which must be made at some later date without 
materially interfering with the arrangements of a good 
plan, or disfiguring a pleasing exterior, either present 
or future. Often a little more earnest study on the 
plan with this in view, will vastly simplify conflicting 
elements otherwise manifesting themselves in con- 
crete form in the future. 

In arranging the plan, the size of the lot is to be 
kept in mind, the proposed cost of building, number 
of floors, kind of construction and the requisite areas 



SCHOOL. BUILDINGS 17 

of all the various departments to be incorporated there- 
in, which are to be arranged conveniently and econom- 
icallv. 



ASSEMBLY HALLS 

Not all grammar schools require these, although 
they serve varied functions, being usually planned to 
accommodate more than the maximum number of en- 
rolled pupils, and are often in demand for meetings 
or entertainments outside of the regular school pro- 
gram. It should be well determined if the proposed 
new building should have an assembly hall, as its 
cost is considerable both in erection and maintenance. 
The amount of regular use and funds available should 
determine whether it is advisable. 

If the assembly hall is to be included in the plan, 
the entire scheme will be materially affected by its 
location. In the large schools such a room is invar- 
iably required; in fact, any school containing more 
than eight rooms may be considered as requiring one. 
It is located preferably on the first floor — not for eco- 
nomic reasons, however, but for the fact that it can 
be more readily reached without clim.bing stairs, and 
the exits to the grades may be more effectively placed. 
The additional height of this room, its large size, the 
problems of heating, ventilating and lighting, the long 
unsupported spans over ceiling, cost, etc., have great 
influence upon its location with respect to other parts 
of the building. 



18 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

Assembly halls are used in two diiterent ways : 

1st. For the school proper; of sufficient size to 
seat, approximately, all of the occupants of 
the building at one time. 

2nd. For the use of the public and the school to- 
gether, and of a size much greater than the 
one first mentioned, having correspondingly 
greater stage capacity. 

Either class may have fixed seats, but opera chairs 
or seats (other than class room desks and seats) will 
be required for auditorium in class 2nd. 

ASSEMBLY HALLS-~LOCATION 

In many of the more recent schools the auditorium 
is placed on the ground floor between two wings, or 
the central part of an E-shaped building and of such 
size as to accommodate all of the pupils at one sit- 
ting. In any case it should be located with careful 
respect to its ultimate use; in other words, if used 
for public purposes, a more convenient level would 
not be found than on the ground, or possibly first 
floor. If the building had three or more floors and 
the assembly hall was of a size only to include the 
occupants of the school, it might be more logically 
placed on the second floor, where it would be nearer 
the center of communication from all floors. 

One advantage of locating the Assx^mbly Hall near 
the ground, is the adequate facilities that may be ob- 
tained for exit purposes, as the higher up it is placed 
greater and correspondingly less efficient means of fire 
escapes and exits will be required. 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 19 

ASSEMBLY HALLS— STAGE 

A stage or platform of sufficient area to accommo- 
date two classes will be of the average size, and should 
be elevated two feet or more, depending upon the 
depth of the Assembly Hall. Ante-rooms adjacent are 
desirable on the same floor level, if possible, as that of 
the stage. 

ASSEMBLY HALL— LIGHTING 

The assembly hall should have natural light from 
one or both sides in addition to any overhead light- 
ing, but there should be no windov/s facing either 
audience or speakers, especially the former. 

The windows for an assembly hall need not be so 
liberal in proportion to floor area as required by a 
class room, and some skylight lighting is not object- 
ionable ; in fact, the customary rules for class room 
lighting may be ignored in this respect. 

The height of windows above the floor is usually 
greater than that in class rooms, and the grouping 
may be obtained in various efficient ways, cross light- 
ing being desirable. 

When not feasible to arrange the auditorium so 
that light may be obtained from both sides, skylights 
may be introduced, but the latter should not be relied 
upon entirely, as outside light of some kind is im- 
perative. 

ASSEMBLY HALLS— EXITS 

Exits to grades should be located independent of 



20 SCHOOL. BUILDINGS 

those opening into corridors, so that the room may 
be emptied in a reasonable length of time. When the 
room is located close to the ground this may be ac- 
complished very readily by placing at the exits double 
glazed doors around the room at various intervals, in 
addition to those opening into the corridors. Exit 
doors are fitted with automatic door openers which 
operate by means of pressure against them. In all 
cases they should open out. 

ASSEMBLY HALLS— SEATING 

For the approximate number of seats that may be 
placed in an assembly hall, 6^ square feet of floor 
area per sitting may be taken as equivalent to each 
sitting, including aisles, etc. Opera chairs are made 
of different widths, 20 inches being a standard from 
center to center, of arms, and as most seating of this 
kind is laid out in curves of different radia, the manu- 
facturers of such articles make chairs of fractional 
widths which will bring the seats at the aisles even 
on both sides, and such variation from the standard 
used will not be enough to be noticed. The rows of 
seats are placed back to back, 2'-6" being a minimum. 

Where opera chairs are used, the floor to assembly 
hall is often concave or sloping, as this feature will 
give better results in enabling each individual to see 
the stage without discomfort. It will also increase the 
cost of construction somewhat. 

As it is often desirable to have some large area 
of level floor space, preferably in the assembly hall, a 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 21 

combination of the two may be utilized in having the 
seats movable from the stage back to half of the depth 
of the room, and from that point fixed seats being 
used on an inclined or concave floor. This arrange- 
ment will be found satisfactory, as the seats most re- 
mote from the stage are those that have to be raised 
above those preceding, in order to facilitate the correct 
lines of sight. 

ASSEMBLY HALLS— GALLERIES 

Galleries or balconies are not objecti£)nable to in- 
crease the seating capacity of an auditorium when 
proper provisions are made for ventilating them ; other- 
wise the heat and foul air will make them uncomfort- 
able. They are always arranged with seats stepped 
up towards the rear to assist in obtaining the proper 
sighting. Aisles should be sloping and free from 
steps if possible. 

STAIRWAYS 

Stairways in school buildings are rarely of one run. 
The most common form are those that start from a 
floor, have a landing at about half way and continue 
back again to the floor above. Winders are never 
used. 

The width of stairs varies in most cases and for 
a double run will be anywhere from 4j^ feet up to 
6 feet, which dimensions may represent a minimum 
and maximum width. As most corridors will average 
from 10 to 12 feet in width and as it is usual to have 



22 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

the stairs at both ends of corridors, it will be readily 
seen that each run of stairs is half the width of the 
corridor; and it is stated by one authority that for 
a run of stairs, anything greater than six (6) feet is 
v\^astefuL It is better to provide more stairways. 

The steps themselves are of easy climb, the treads 
being approximately twelve (12) inches in width and 
the rise never over seven (7) inches in height. 

The stairs should be of fire-proof construction their 
entire height and in many cities such construction is 
regulated by local ordinances. It matters little what 
material is used in their construction as long as they 
are fire-proof, although concrete is being used ex- 
tensively. When such is the case, the balustrade may 
be made solid, curving at the landings, and doing 
away entirely with newel posts and forming a smooth 
rail from basement to the top floor without breaks of 
any kind. Such a balustrade is strong and free from 
the numerous surfaces presented to catch dust, found 
with the more antiquated balustrade with iron or 
wood balusters. The treads may be protected by any 
one of the numerous metal and composition safety 
treads, which will form a still more important func- 
tion in forming a surface that will prevent slipping 
and one that will wear well. 

Ample lighting should be obtained for all stairs, 
especially at the landings, as when provided for here, 
light will be thrown on both runs of stairs and par- 
tially down the corridors. 

Most school buildings of any size will have two 
stairways from the first floor to the ones above, 



SCHOOL. BUILDINGS 23 

whether or not in connection with entrances. In the 
latter case the entrances themselves should be ample 
and free from obstruction. Many entrances have ves- 
tibule doors, the balance of the opening being taken 
up by partitions which might as well be substituted 
with an additional glazed door, used or not as desired, 
but convenient should the occasion arise. 

CORRIDORS 

Corridors are proportionate in width to the num- 
ber of pupils passing to or through thern, and for the 
accommodation of any articles that may be placed in 
them. ''They should receive natural direct light and 
ventilation from outside windows ; a long corridor 
lighted wholly by borrowed light, no matter how 
abundant, invariably produces an effect of confine- 
ment which is depressing. Windows or stair land- 
ings are very serviceable, as they shed their light far 
into the corridors. There is, of course, no objection 
to borrowed light as an accessory to direct window 
lighting; but it must be remembered that glass tran- 
soms and -glazed doors, though they afford light, give 
no air to the corridors and cannot take the place of 
windows opening into the outer air." 

That corridors should be any particular width is 
arbitrary, but in school buildings of a more or less 
typical size, they may be approximately of the same 
width. There seems to be no logical reason vAiy 
a corridor serving four rooms only, should be the 
same width as one that opens into eight class rooms 



24 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

or more, or that the entrance "loggia" may not be 
18 or more feet in width. Eight feet might be con- 
sidered a minimum width for main corridors, and 
twelve feet wide an average. One authority on the 
subject states that a greater width than 12 feet is 
a waste of room and therefore, poor planning. It is 
certain that no typical corridor need be v/ider than 
that dimension to comfortably fulfill its purpose. 

Corridors on the second floors need not be of the 
same size as those on the lower, but in most buildings 
are so for economy in construction and general ap- 
pearance. 

A type of corridor in California called a "Cloister" 
is very popular in one-story buildings, and in some 
cases in two-story buildings. It is left open in sum- 
mer, a desirable feature in extreme localities and one 
which eliminates the need of mechanical ventila- 
tion features to a certain extent as far as the corridor 
is concerned, as the air may circulate unrestricted. 
In most cases, however, a "Cloister" consisting of a 
repetition of open arches should be enclosed with 
sash glazed with wire glass or storm sash in the 
severe winter months to keep out the weather. This 
will also mean additional heating if the "Cloister" is 
to serve as a corridor, but not so many changes of 
air will be required as in class rooms. "Cloister" floors 
are generally of cement or similar material. 

The floors to inside corridors may be linoleum 
over cement or wood, terrazo, tile, composition, etc., 
depending upon the kind and construction! of the 
building. 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 25 

A foot warmer will be found necessary near en- 
trances in the more severe climates. 

The walls to corridors may have enameled brick 
tile, *'Keene's" cement or other durable wainscot, as 
near water-proof as possible. Wood should not be 
used as a substitute. Above the wainscot, walls and 
ceiling may be left smooth for tinting or painting. 

CLASS ROOMS 

Typical class rooms are usually 24 feet by 32 feet 
(24x32). They may be any size, it is true, but that 
size will accomodate 56 primary or 48 grammar school 
pupils — all that one teacher can properly handle, ac- 
cording to opinions of most educational authorities. 
A width of 24 feet will also admit a sufficient amount 
of light along the wall opposite the windows, and 
the length of 32 feet will permit easy sight of the 
blackboard behind the teacher's desk, and will not 
be too far to readily hear in the farthest part of the 
room. In most of the best public school buildings 
throughout the country, this size, or approximately 
this size is used, and may be considered a standard. 

Size of Class Rooms in Grammar Schools 

Boston 23' X 29' 42 pupils 

New York 22' x 30' 40 pupils 

Chicago 24' X 34' 48 pupils 

St. Louis 24' X 32'6". . . .48 pupils 

San Francisco ... .26' x 32' 48 pupils 

The height of class rooms vary slightly, depending 



26 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

upon its size, 12'-6" to 13'-6" being the customary 
height. 

One ample door to corridor, 40 to 44 inches wide, 
should be provided near the teacher's end of the room, 
alike for entrance and exit. Such a door is wide 
enough to allow two files to pass in or out at once, 
and is under the teacher's eye and full control. A 
large single panel of opaque wire glass will allow 
light through the door and is practically indestructible. 
Six rows of eight desks each, from front to rear, can 
be conveniently placed in a room 24x32 feet and 
seven rows of eight deskes each, for the primary 
grades. Widths of from 27 to 30 feet are common 
for class rooms in the United States, but do not 
represent the best practice, the tendency being to de- 
crease the size of rooms with proportionate teaching 
facilities. 



TEACHERS' CLOSET 

A combination book case, closet and wardrobe is 
usually built into the wall in class rooms as near 
the teacher's desk as may be practical. It need not 
be over 12" to 18" in depth, and in many instances 
it can be built into the wall and project into the 
room not more than 6", or if flush with the wall so 
much the better. The case is from 3'-0" to 4'-0" long 
and contains shelves, cupboard, two drawers, the 
book case being fitted with glass doors. Corner closets 
are built in some rooms, but disfigure the appearance 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 27 

of the room and do not lend themselves as well to 
book shelves, etc. 

LIGHTING OF CLASS ROOMS 

The lighting of class rooms occasions more dis- 
cussion and theories than any other controling element 
in school design, is much discussed, and often very 
positive conclusions are arrived at by those who are 
not sufficiently familiar with both theory and prac- 
tice. It must be remembered that too much light is 
not a bad fault, for even if incorrectly j^laced it may 
be closed over with shades when not desired, while too 
little light is a fault that cannot be remedied. 

It is almost universally agreed that class rooms 
should be lighted from one side only, unless of ex- 
ceptional width, a partial exception sometimes being 
made for corner rooms, which may have windows in 
the end at the rear of the desks, opposite the teacher's 
platform. When windows are so placed their purpose 
primarily is for securing some sunlight in a room that 
it not otherwise arranged to allow an abundance of 
this most necessary adjunct to ventilation and sani- 
tation. 

If possible, class rooms should have sunlight at 
some time during the day, and if such light be an- 
noying at times, it may be very easily removed by 
drawing a shade over it. 

The best practice favors a blank wall opposite the 
teacher and pupils, so as to avoid the glare in cither's 
eyes. When windows are placed in the rear of the 



28 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

room, the pupils in the two or three rearmost rows sit 
in their own light from such windows, which is un- 
pleasant, and often injurious to sensitive eyes. The 
customary light for a school room is that which comes 
from the left side and from slightly in front of the 
pupil. Light from "over the left shoulder" is often 
advised as the best for reading; but it is bad for writ- 
ing and drawing, as it may cast the shadow of the body 
across the work on the desk. 

In some of the most modern school buildings, sky- 
lights are provided for in the ceiling, and light from 
this source used independent of the windows else- 
where; but this method is not practical in most cases, 
as school buildings are not usually of one story in 
height. It may readily be seen that skylights are im- 
possible for a building of, say four floors or more, ex- 
cepting for the topmost floor. Overhead lighting may 
be the ideal light, and future developments may revo- 
lutionize the present lighting ideas to some extent in 
the smaller buildings where such lighting may be 
taken advantage of. 

The area of light for class rooms is approximately 
equivalent to one-fifth (1/5) of the entire floor area. 

WINDOWS (Class Room) 

Windows are not usually less than three and one- 
half (3^) feet above the floor, as light lower than that 
level is useless, and they should extend to within one 
foot of the ceiling, as the higher up they run the more 
efficient is the lighting. In some schools windows ex- 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 29 

tend to within six (6) inches of the ceiling and inter- 
fere somewhat with the cove ceiling that is usually 
run around a class room; but even this may be over- 
come without serious defect. 

Shadows may be eliminated to some extent by nar- 
row muUions, and the most ideal results will be ob- 
tained by a mass of windows closely grouped together, 
as those found in factory construction, a studio, or 
windows similar to those found in the New York 
schools of more recent date. This arrangement does 
not adapt itself to some styles of architecture and sat- 
isfactory results may be had with other arrangements, 
provided windows are not placed too far apart and 
are of sufficient area. These requirements hold in gen- 
eral for grammar schools, but high or secondary 
schools do not require such exact conditions, due to the 
fact that students are not confined to any one room 
during the entire day and are fewer in number per class 
room. Bilateral lighting is permissible only in wide 
study rooms over thirty feet in width. 

Architects are occasionally seriously hampered by 
arbitrary opinions of school trustees, often well taken, 
but not so vital as others having equal importance in 
the whole solution of the problem. In fact, there are 
trustees who have such decided opinions on this sub- 
ject that they have been known to entirely discard a 
carefully studied solution to their problem because the 
fenestration was arranged differently from their own 
ideas. 

For grammar schools it will generally be found 
sufficient for those in charge to see that approximately 



30 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

one-fifth (1/5) of the floor area is in glass and that 
the windows are fairly well grouped. 

CLOAK ROOMS 

Cloak rooms or wardrobes in grammar schools are 
for the purpose of providing hanging and storage space 
for pupils' wraps, rubber shoes, etc., and are usually 
located at the side or end of a class room, preferably 
the latter, as a window may be more readily placed in 
the wall at the end of that room, a very important con- 
venience. Often so-called ventilation is obtained in 
them by air passing through a screen in the lower half 
of cloak room doors from class rooms, and thence up 
to the ceiling of the cloak room. This may not be 
strictly termed ventilation, as the air has been used 
once in the class room, but its velocity will be greater 
in the latter room and such as it is, will assist in dry- 
ing out garments that may be damp, etc. 

Whether pupils should enter the class room first 
and then pass into the cloak room, thus allowing the 
teacher to keep surveillance over those passing therein, 
and practically eliminating stolen articles, etc., or 
whether the pupil should pass into the cloak room 
first, leaving wet and muddy garments in the ward- 
robe before entering and disturbing the room, is a sub- 
ject under discussion in all communities, and one 
which may well be taken from either standpoint. Pos- 
sibly the former arrangement is the better, especially 
in the primary grades, as it is thereby impossible for a 
pupil to remain in the wardrobe without the teacher's 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 31 

knowledge. In planning the school, this discussion 
may be eliminated entirely and either system used, or 
both, by merely providing a door at the entrance to 
wardrobe from corridor, as a means of communication, 
the door being locked if desired. 

The size of cloak rooms should not be less than 
four and one-half (4^) feet in width, and are usually 
in length, approximately, twenty-four (24) feet (the 
width of the class room). When such is the case a 
width exceeding 5'-0" is a waste of space. 

Coat hooks should be spaced on each wall about 
12" to 18" apart, alternately, at two difi^rent levels. 
If numbered, each pupil will readily know the location 
of his own hook and may pass without delay through 
the cloak room. Height of lower hooks — kindergar- 
ten, 30 inches from the floor. Height of lower hooks, 
— upper grades, 44, 48 and 52 inches from the floor. 

Where mechanical ventilation is used, the two 
doors opening into the cloak rooms from class room 
have heav}^ galvanized iron screens in lower panel; 
these doors will be about 2'-6" wide. 

Patent Wardrobes 

There are other systems than the above, used for 
wardrobes, some of which have been found successful 
under certain favorable conditions. Racks have been 
placed in the halls in some schools, thus eliminating 
the so-called "cloak room" entirely, but their use has 
many disadvantages, the least of which is the neces- 
sary unkempt appearance of the corridors so used. 

The capacity of cabinets with rolling fronts is not 



32 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

to be compared with the average sized cloak room, and 
the sanitary arrangement is not equal to a suitable 
room with a window. 

Outside of the functions of a wardrobe, namely, to 
conveniently care for the pupils' wraps, provision must 
be made for suitably ventilating it and shelves pro- 
vided for lunch boxes, racks for umbrellas, etc. 

Terrazo, composition, or other waterproof floors 
will be found desirable in wardrobes. 

BLACKBOARDS 

There are several kinds of blackboards, natural 
(slate) and composition, used extensively in school 
buildings, as well as numerous paint products which 
have their usefulness, but can in no way be considered 
as blackboards. 

Slate is by far the most durable, and in the long 
run the most economical as well, v/eather conditions 
having no effect upon its surface, which cannot always 
be said of the composition blackboards. The latter are 
usually built up on felt board, about one-quarter of 
an inch thick, and finished with a composition surface 
less than one-sixteenth of an inch thick; this surface 
resembles slate in appearance and texture and sup- 
plies a satisfactory surface in most particulars. It is 
possible that dampness may creep into the backing 
and cause it to buckle, thus injuring the surface. The 
manufacturers of the composition boards give a ten- 
year guarantee on their product, which means that 
they will replace same if so damaged. Preparation 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 33 

for these boards consists of a smooth wood backing, 
to which they are glued on with clamps. Air spaces, 
where the glue does not adhere perfectly, may be de- 
tected, the hollow sound made by rapping the surface 
with the knuckles. The boards come in different 
lengths, 12 feet being common, and in widths of 3'-0", 
3'-6" and 4'-0". 

Another board which rHay come under this classih* 
cation consists simply of a "skim coat" plastered over 
the wall plaster beneath, and is of a similar qualit}^ and 
texture as that just described for board backing. It is 
also less than one-sixteenth of an inch i« thickness, 
and if put on by its manufacturers smoothly, is just as 
good a surface for chalk. Metal lath is usually used 
for the plastered surface in connection with this board 
to reduce the cracking (due to building shrinkage) to 
a minimum. 

The heights of blackboards are usually as follows : 

Primary grades 26" from the floor 

Intermediate grades ....30" from the floor 
Higher grades 36" from the floor 

The height of the board itself should be 3'-6" for 
the lower grades and 4'-0" for the higher grades. 

Often the blackboards behind teachers' desks ex- 
tend still higher to enable chalk work to be readily 
seen from all parts of the room. The cost of black- 
boards is variable, depending on sizes, freight rates, 
areas, etc. In general, slate may run from 20 to 35 
cents per square foot, and com.position boards 15 to 
25 cents, in place on the wall. 



34 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

BLACKBOARD TRIMMINGS 

Trim for blackboards consists of wood or metal 
chalk rail, grooved to form a trough to catch the chalk 
dust and hold crayon, pointers, etc. Where vacuum 
cleaning apparatus is installed this trough may have 
apertures to remove the dust, and covered over with 
screening. The usefulness of the arrangement is 
doubtful, however. At the top of the board a wood 
strip forms the trim, usually grooved like a plate rail, 
to hold cards, pictures, etc. (and' more or less miscel- 
laneous dust). 

PRINCIPAL'S AND TEACHERS' ROOM 

A room for the principal, also one for the teachers, 
is usually required in every school building. A room 
containing approximately 240 square feet will be suffi- 
cient for each. They may be fitted with lavatories and 
a toilet in the teachers' room, or both. Wardrobes 
should be built into the walls of the teachers' room and 
a gas plate, concealed in a cabinet, may be convenient. 
The pimcipal's office should have a supply closet, 
wardrobe, bookcase, and if a large school, a private 
office will be required, 120 square feet being a fair 
minimum size. The location of these rooms should 
be as near the entrance as convenient, especially the 
principal's room, and also near the center of commun- 
ication. 

TOILET ROOMS 

Toilet rooms for grammar schools are generally 



SCHOOL. BUILDINGS 35 

placed on the ground or basement floor, where they 
can be reached from the play yard as well as from the 
building. They should be well lighted and ventilated 
and in some instances a separate building connected 
to main building by a cloister or covered corridor will 
be found admirable when plenty of ground area is ob- 
tainable. Wire glass will be found suitable for the 
glazing of windows. Tile, cement or composition 
floors are used (never wood), sloping slightly to drain. 
The walls may be of any material excepting wood; 
hard burned or salt glazed brick being a suitable ma- 
terial. Cement wainscot or tile may be t^ed when it 
is necessary to fur out the walls on account of damp- 
ness. The ceilings are of plaster. The number of 
fixtures required for toilet rooms will be variable. The 
Massachusetts rule is 2.25 fixtures for each class room 
7S boys', 1.5 girls' and 33 lineal feet of urinal per class 
room. The above rule will be found ample. (See san- 
itation for fixtures.) 

DOORS 

Class room doors into the corridor should be from 
3'-0" to 3'-6" in width, and glazed with opaque wire 
glass. The latter being a heavy plate glass with a 
metal wire woven into it and admitting light, but 
being of itself almost indestructible. 

Exterior assembly room doors are usually double 
and always open outward to exit, being mechanically 
operated by pressure against them from the inside. 

Doors from corridors to assembly room are double 
swing, not more than 2'-6" wide each, and not over 



36 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

7'-0" in height; large or heavy doors are cumbersome 
to handle if used extensively. 

Main entrance doors open out, except in connection 
with entrance vestibules, in which case they may be 
swung in and fastened against the wall out of the way, 
leaving the vestibule doors to be used in their place. 

Wardrobe doors (from class room to wardrobe) 
are 2'-6" in width and are made with an iron ventilat- 
ing screen in the bottom for ventilating purposes. The 
height of all doors need not be more than 7'-0'\ 

FLOORS 

Wood floors in class rooms are of first quality ver- 
tical grain pine or maple, the latter being used almost 
universally in assembly hall, gymnasium, domestic 
science room, laboratories, etc. Composition floors are 
being used as finish floors throughout some of the fire- 
proof structures, and it is possible that in time they may 
supplant wood, even in buildings whose sub-floor is 
also frame. 

Corridor, stair and vestibule floors may be of wood, 
composition, marble, tile, etc. — even cement in some 
cases. Cement or composition floors. are used almost 
entirely for toilet, play room, furnace room, etc. 

WALLS (Class Rooms) 

Wall spaces, not covered by blackboard, may be 
plastered and tinted, or covered with burlap. Tile, 
Keene's cement, or any durable material may be used 
as wainscot below blackboards and around corridor 
walls ; also around cloak room walls. 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 37 

CEILINGS 

Ceilings are 12'-6" to 13'-6" for class rooms. In cor- 
ridors and cloak rooms they may be furred down to lO'-O" 
to allow concealed space for heat and vent ducts. Cove 
ceilings are desirable in such rooms as may lend them- 
selves to treatment, as dust, etc. will not get into cor- 
ners in places where it is difficult to clean, and the 
appearance of the room is also much improved with 
their use. 

KINDERGARTEN ^ 

A large room, a small one, supply closet, wardrobe 
and toilet will be sufficient. The main room should 
take a sixteen (16) foot circle and the floor may be of 
linoleum, lined off as desired by the instructor. A 
teachers' wardrobe and bookcase will complete the ar- 
rangements. If the subject is an innovation to the 
community erecting the building, an ordinary class 
room will answer the purpose for some time. 

SPECIAL ROOMS 

In large cities, where a school physician is em- 
ployed for vaccinating purposes or for testing the eyes 
and teeth of pupils, two small rooms may be provided 
for that purpose, a total area of 240 square feet being 
ample. They should be fitted with lavatory, cases, 
etc. The teachers' or principal's room may be used 
for the above purposes if the school is of small size. 

Janitor's Room 

A janitor's room is located on the ground floor and 



38 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

should be provided with some outside light, store 
room, sink, work bench and closet space. 

Engineer's Room 

Schools of large size, where steam is used for heat- 
ing and other purposes, require an engineer's room, 
containing lavatory and more or less wardrobe or 
closet space. 

PLAY ROOMS 

Play rooms are necessary for use in inclement 
weather, where there is no gymnasium. As much open 
space is desirable as is possible. Good light, and the 
same floor, wall and ceiling material as called for in 
toilet rooms, should be provided for. Drinking foun- 
tains are placed in each play room, which should be 
in close connection with the toilet room. In the large 
cities, play rooms for high buildings are placed on the 
roof for economic reasons, but the average school will 
have plenty of space in the basement or ground floor 
for such purpose. 

DOMESTIC SCIENCE 

Some form of domestic science is taught in most 
grammar schools, and if the school is of sufficient size, 
and a special teacher is provided for that purpose, more 
or less suitable space is required. 

This space should be well lighted, and if cooking 
is introduced, work benches, gas plates, cupboards, 
dresser, sinks, etc., will be necessary. Sewing rooms 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 39 

may be of any size, the ordinary class room being suffi- 
ciently large. (See domestic science for high schools.) 

MANUAL TRAINING 

Manual training is now taught to some extent in 
grammar schools, and provision should be made in a 
new building for that purpose. The arrangement may 
be as elaborate as funds will allow, from a single room 
and store room up to the model described as follows : 

The room itself should be finished as nearly as 
possible to resemble a shop, with wood floor, high 
wainscot of brick, tile or cement and plastered ceiling. 
The location may be in the basement or ground floor 
and from 600 to 1000 square feet in area, depending 
upon the size of the school. A corner room, well 
lighted on both sides, is preferable. The room will 
contain possibly twenty-eight benches and stools, dis- 
play frames, demonstration table and steps for in- 
struction. 

In addition to the room proper, a stock room 
(eighty square feet), long and narrow, fitted with racks 
or shelves, and connecting to the outside wall by win- 
dow, will be necessary. A large teacher's closet (forty 
square feet) for storage of finished pieces, and book 
case similar to those in a class room, will be required. 
A sink, three feet long, and work rack of lockers should 
be included, the rack being vised to receive pieces of 
work at different stages. 

No machinery is installed in manual training room 
for grammar schools, as the raw material for this de- 



40 SCHOOL, BUILDINGS 

partment may be delivered at the building cut up and 
ready for use. 

GYMNASIUM 

Gymnasiums are not provided in grammar schools 
unless they be of large size or in cases where little 
or no yard space is available. (See gymnasiums under 
high schools.) 

TINTING OF V/ALLS 

Pure white is a bad color for class rooms, or any 
combination of white and black, as both are consid- 
ered cold and have a depressing effect, especially in 
rooms which are constantly occupied. 

The ceilings of all rooms and corridors should be 
a light cream color, as that color is pleasing to the 
eye, and makes the room light and airy. The walls 
may be cream colored also, preferably of a slightly 
darker tone, or any warm grey color, avoiding strong 
tones of red, yellow or blue, or any combination of 
them. The wainscot under the blackboards may be 
of a still darker grey, as it will get considerable wear 
and more or less hard usage. 

Water colors, tinting or oil paint, stippled to kill 
the gloss, are suitable for class rooms. In some cases 
enamel is used below the blackboards, a material that 
may be readily washed off and one that will stand con- 
siderable hard usage when put on over Keene's cement 
or other similar cement wainscot. 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 41 

HIGH SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

* The same general problems have to be solved for 
high school buildings as those for grammar schools, 
and many others in addition, but fortunately many so- 
called "iron-clad" requirements may be materially 
modified, as the control of high school pupils is some- 
what simplified, due to a difference in age and intelli- 
gence from that of primary pupils. 

In high school buildings, smaller class rooms, 24x 
32 feet, are often better adapted to som^ of the sub- 
jects taught, larger rooms being reserved for study 
hall, laboratories, shops and assembly hall, the latter 
often being used for a study hall, when not provided 
for otherv/ise. The introduction of manual training 
facilities, gymnasium, chemistry, and physics labora- 
tories, commercial departments, domestic science, 
lunch rooms, etc., all require more rooms of various 
sizes to suit the purposes for which they are intended. 
Additional administrative rooms will be required, such 
as principal's ofiice, teachers' rooms for both sexes, 
and one or more instructors' ofiices. 

The average architect is not familiar with the mis- 
cellaneous equipment of high school buildings, and it 
is not absolutely necessary that he should be, but he 
must acquaint himself with the apparatus that will at 
some time enter into his building, even though its 
final installation be effected long after his connection 
with the building has been terminated. 

Unfortunately, in most cities too little time is de- 
voted to laying out the equipment for a new high 



42 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

school before the plans and specifications for general 
construction are completed and building operations 
commenced. It is well worth while to devote as much 
time and study as may be necessary to lay out all 
school equipment thoroughly before it is too late to 
modify the general construction plans. Many cities 
have learned this too late and have been forced to in- 
stall in their buildings equipment inconveniently ar- 
ranged because of limited space, or in conflict with 
the structural details. The ideal way in which to ap- 
proach this problem is, first, to prepare tentatively all 
plans and specifications for general construction, in- 
cluding building, heating, ventilating, plumbing, wir- 
ing, etc., then to locate on the same drawings and at 
the same scale, all of the more important pieces of 
equipment; lastly, to complete the general plans. This 
order of procedure avoids conflicts between structura) 
details and equipment and permits the maxim.um 
utility of all space in the building. It also reduces to 
a minimum changes and alterations in structural de- 
tails to accommodate equipment changes that cause 
delay and expense. 

Cloak rooms and wardrobes may be eliminated with 
perfect success in high school buildings by substitut- 
ing lockers either in the basement or corridors. The 
lockers — the metal ones preferred — may be arranged 
so as not to be in any way objectionable so far as ap- 
pearance is concerned. In many schools the boys' 
lockers are located in the basement and the girls' lock- 
ers on the second floor corridor, in which case it will 
be found very convenient if the girls' toilet is located 



SCHOOL. BUILDINGS 43 

also on the floor. Combination locks may be supplied 
to lockers which will not readily get out of order and 
will be found superior to locks with keys, in that they 
can not get lost. 

STUDY HALLS 

A study hall is incorporated in a great many high 
schools, either with or without an assembly hall. It 
is not a necessity in every case, as in modern high 
schools the assembly hall is used in that capacity as 
well as the library and unused recitation rooms dur- 
ing certain periods of the day, depending, of course, 
upon the system of instruction and discipline of the 
school. It is usually in size equivalent to two class 
rooms, but any size over and above that of a class 
room is sufficient. 

ASSEMBLY HALLS 

All modern high schools have these and the require- 
ments will not differ materially, except for size from 
assembly halls as described under that title for gram- 
mar schools. (See page 17.) 

CLASS ROOMS 

A class room 24x32 feet will acocmmodate as a 
maximum capacity forty-two (42) high school desks. 
In many high schools, class rooms may be more cor- 
rectly termed recitation rooms, as they are used only 
for that purpose and may be of any size, down to 20x28 



44 SCHOOL. BUILDINGS 

feet in size. When so used, desks are not used at all, 
the furniture consisting of chairs with wide arm which 
answers the same purpose. Other schools will have 
some rooms fitted with desks, usually movable, and 
seating two persons per desk in straight back chairs, 
also movable. In such a type of school most study is 
done either in the assembly hall, study hall, library 
or elsewhere in recitation rooms not utilized during 
certain periods. 

The size of class rooms, therefore, in high schools 
is dependable upon the system of instruction, but in 
an average number of high school buildings with study 
or assembly hall, a few rooms 24x32 feet or 26x32 feet 
in size, two or three smaller, 18x24 feet average, will 
be found sufficient for language, mathematics, history, 
rooms, etc., not requiring special fittings such as lab- 
oratories. 

The lighting of class rooms is quite different for 
high schools, such exact quantities as required for 
grammar schools not being necessary on account of the 
classes being smaller in the first place, and second, 
and still more important, the system of instruction is 
different, the pupils not being required to remain in 
the same seat and in the same room during both 
periods. 

Blackboards in high schools are usually of slate 
and the height above floor, three feet. 

COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT 

In the commercial department the changes of the 
last few years have been most marked. It is now con- 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 45 

sidered proper school practice to fit out the rooms as 
nearly as practicable along the lines that are adopted 
by industrial and commercial offices, thus furnishing 
pupils with the appliances that the present day offices 
will present as soon as they have completed their 
school work. 

For the average high school, instruction in this 
department will consist of a typing room, often a 
closed partition of plaster wall and plate glass, the 
latter being quite extensive in area and facilitating 
supervision over that department without an addi- 
tional instructor; a bookkeeping room^ and one or 
more recitation rooms for stenography and lectures on 
business methods, etc. 

Store rooms, numerous supply cases and cupboards 
will also be found necessary to facilitate proper in- 
struction in these subjects, the arrangement of which 
— in fact, the total floor space occupied by the com- 
mercial department — will depend on the number of 
instructors and pupils interested in those subjects. 

CHEMICAL LABORATORY 

Chemical laboratories are usually located on the 
ground floor, a basement floor of the building, al- 
though the reason for such a location is rather in- 
definite other than the principal class rooms, etc., are 
first provided for and what space is left after they have 
been disposed of is given to laboratories, etc. 

Such an analysis of planning is not the best and 
the laboratories may better be located on the top floor. 



46 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

where gases, etc., are less likely to percolate through 
the building and where an abundant amount of light 
may usually be obtained. 

As the chemistry laboratory is one department of 
the science group, its location is influenced somewhat 
by that of the physical laboratory and lecture room, 
which may be used for both studies. 

The size will depend upon the number of pupils 
taught, 30 square feet per pupil being taken as an 
approximate space, but better results will be obtained 
by blocking off all articles of size that will be placed 
in the room, tables, sinks, etc. 

A laboratory day consists of four or five periods, 
and the space for pupils' individual equipment should 
be, therefore, four or five times the working capacity 
of the laboratory. 

The use of acids and destructive chemicals in the 
chemistry department plays havoc in time with wood 
and plumbing pipes, eating away and discoloring parts, 
so that it is impossible to keep the laboratory in a 
presentable condition. Glass may be used for the tops 
of the work tables, and though expensive, it may be 
obtained in almost any thickness and in either white 
or black opaque colors. 

Stone of some varieties is sometimes used, also 
marble, either material affording far better wearing 
surfaces than the common wood tops usually found 
in smaller schools. Plumbing pipes should be lead 
lined, and all sinks should be porcelain lined to pre- 
vent acid from eating parts inaccessible, and whose 
condition is unknown, until some extensive damage is 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 47 

done. The customary students' chemical work table 
is provided with two or more sinks, water supply, gas 
outlets, a combination shelf for acid-proof materials 
and supplies. Many stock tables do not provide toe 
space at floor and are uncomfortable to work at. They 
should be raised either above the floor or spaces left 
at different intervals to allow pupils to work close to 
the table. 

Chemistry benches or work tables may be had 
from manufacturers and be single or double and of 
any length desirable. The size mostly used is the 
double bench, which is about 4^ feet wi^e and 10 to 
12 feet long, requiring a working aisle of about five 
feet in width. The preference for tables of this type 
is to save room taken up by the aisle, and to simplify 
plumbing. Chemical hoods or fume closets should be 
well ventilated and should have plate glass sides. 
Where mechanical ventilation is installed in the build- 
ing, they may be connected to the system. They are 
about eight (8) feet in height and of variable widths, 
according to the number of pupils to provide for. 

It is possible in many cases to have the chemistry 
laboratory directly adjacent to the back of the lecture 
room, in which case enough head room will be found 
under the seating arrangement in that room to pro- 
vide for abundant locker and store room area. As this 
space would be otherwise wasted, such an arrange- 
ment will be readily seen to be of great advantage. 

CHEMICAL HOODS 

A double chemistry hood or "fume closet" is about 



48 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

52x32 inches in area and 7 or 8 feet high, plate glass 
windows in the front if flush with the wall, or on three 
sides when fixtures project into the room. It has 
gas and water taps on the counter and drawers and 
cupboards underneath, and is ventilated independently 
or in connection with a mechanical ventilating plant. 

CHEMISTRY TABLES 

These may be of different sizes. A double table 
12 feet long and 4 feet wide, accommodates 16 stu- 
dents working in sections of eight. Such a table sets 
free in the room. A wall type half the size in length 
is also made for eight pupils, in sections of four. All 
tables have reagent shelves, sinks, v/ater and gas sup- 
ply on the counter and drawers and cupboards under, 
with name plates and locks. More elaborate tables 
have small chemical hoods for each pupil, glass top 
and reagent shelves, etc., the equipment depending 
upon the importance and funds at the disposal of 
this department. All tables should be solid in con- 
struction and of substantial material, as they will get 
considerable hard usage. 

STORE ROOMS 

A store room and some cases and cupboards are 
required in this department and often by a little in- 
genuity on the part of the architect the cases may 
be set into the walls so that they are flush with the 
same in the front, a much neater and more sanitary 
arrangement. 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 49 

PHYSICAL LABORATORY 

This room should be somewhat larger in size than 
the ordinary class room, should be located near or ad- 
joining the science lecture room, and in addition to 
the room proper there should be an apparatus, bal- 
ance, dark and store rooms, all of such size as is avail- 
able. The main laboratory should be not less than 
24x36 feet. 

Laboratory tables are of quite solid construction 
with gas, electric and water outlets ; tables seating 
from two to four will be the average fixture. A good 
arrangement would be aisles of two tabled with sink 
and drip board between, and seating four pupils per 
table or eight pupils per row. A demonstration table 
of large size, and equipped with water, gas and elec- 
tricity, will be required. Flush plate electric plugs 
should be placed in all tables and at various conven- 
ient places around the room ; also a cut-out box with 
attachments for direct and alternating current for the 
more elaborate experiments. 

Balance cases should be built into the wall, flush 
with wall surface if possible, and should consist of 
a glass sliding door and solid shelf upon which is 
placed the balance weights, etc. In some institutions 
a special room is provided, with dust-proof cases, where 
no air currents will circulate, but the above arrange- 
ment will be considered sufficient for the average 
sized high school. The apparatus room is used for 
keeping bulky apparatus and also for putting together 
and preparing experiments ready for demonstration, 
either in the laboratory or lecture room. It should 



50 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

be as large as possible (10x12 feet, a minimum size) 
and fitted with plenty of shelving, cases, work coun- 
ter, etc. A dark room is required in connection with 
physics laboratory, with sink, some shelving and elec- 
tric outlets ; also some store room space. 

SCIENCE LABORATORY 

Botanical and zoological science are taught in this 
room, 24x34 feet being a minimum size. The tables 
are about 54x24 inches and 30 inches high, each ac- 
commodating two pupils. The tops of tables should 
be glass, if possible, or hard maple with water outlets, 
one to every four tables. A large sink is also required, 
with drip boards on either side. 

An aquarium, live cage, ice box and cases of lock- 
ers will be additional equipment, the extent of which 
will vary with the importance given to this depart- 
ment. 

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 

This subject may be taught in the science labora- 
tory in small high schools if of sufficient size. A sep- 
arate room, about 24x36 feet in size, with delta table, 
is provided for in large buildings. 

LECTURE ROOM (Science Group) 

A lecture room is necessary in conjunction with 
the physics and chemistry laboratories and if of suf- 
ficient size may be used for lecture purposes for other 
studies than those two mentioned. The room must 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 51 

be large enough to comfortably seat at least fifty, 
and should be large enough to seat more than twice 
that number if the room is intended to be used in 
connection with other departments for scientific 
lectures with a stereopticon. In the latter case, raised 
seats are arranged for as in a "clinic." The location 
of this room is important, as it must be accessible to 
corridors as well as to both laboratories. The plat- 
form for the seats are stepped up from the demonstra- 
tor's table 6 to 10 inches per step, the higher ones 
being in the rear of the room. Enough height will 
be obtained under the last few rows of seats to pro- 
vide for considerable space underneath, which may be 
used to advantage for locker and storage purposes for 
chemistry or physics laboratories, if either directly 
joins the lecture room. The best seats are those of 
the opera chair type, with one wide arm that may be 
dropped down at the side when not in use. Some 
provision must be made for darkening the room at 
times, which may be accomplished by opaque curtains 
sliding in wood or metal groves, and operated by hand. 
Other equipment for this room will consist of a de- 
monstration table similar to the chemistry bench, 
though longer and provided with sink, gas, water, 
electricity, etc. ; also a cabinet for storing the slides 
for stereopticon, a case similar to a library card file 
and of sufficient size to take the negatives, being fre- 
quently used. 

DOMESTIC SCIENCE (Cooking) 

The more recent methods followed in this branch of 



52 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

instruction consist of a "U" shaped arrangement of 
tables, seating two pupils per table, and with one or 
more demonstration tables m the center of the "U." A 
gas main circles around and supplies two stubs for each 
table, used in connection with portable gas plates, 
the size of which vary somewhat. Any table ap- 
proximately 30 inches wide, five feet long and 32 
inches wide, will do for a unit. These tables are 
built with white maple tops and sliding shelves, cup- 
boards and drawers underneath, and may be a piece 
of furniture or built to order. 

Other equipment for this room will consist of a 
range, towel rack, ice box, sink, cupboards, china closet 
and pantry cases. Lockers for each pupil must be pro- 
vided for in some manner. A serving pantry and 
dining room may be incorporated in the larger schools. 

DOMESTIC SCIENCE (Sewing) 

Sewing is taught in different ways, depending 
upon the number of pupils taking up that branch of 
study. The tables may be arranged after a fashion 
similar to cooking tables, or they may be placed in two 
aisles, leaving a center aisle for machines, one to every 
four pupils. The tables should be 32 inches high, 60 
inches long, and from three to four feet wide, fitted 
with extension leaves^ sliding shelves and drawers. 
Lockers will be required for each pupil, and material 
and supply cases. A display wardrobe with glass doors 
will be desirable. 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 53 

LUNCH ROOMS 

In all high schools, lunch rooms are provided for, 
cafeterias, etc., in some instances, operated entirely 
or in part as a feature of the domestic science group 
and preferably located adjoining or near that depart- 
ment. Provision is so made that pupils may get their 
lunches entire or in part, at cost. It will not be found 
a paying proposition to operate a cafeteria excepting 
in very large schools ; in fact, but few instances may be 
cited where expenses were covered for such depart- 
ment. % 

DRAWING ROOMS 

High schools usually require free-hand and me- 
chanical drawing rooms, and if both subjects are taught 
by the same instructor they may be well placed ad- 
jacent. Both rooms require ample light, preferably 
from the north, and skylights are desirable if not 
necessary, to both. For this reason they are often 
placed on the top floor of the building, although 
mechanical drawing is often more or less supplement- 
ary to shop work. If taught by the latter instructor 
it might be more conveniently placed near the shops, 
which, of course, usually means the ground floor. 

The free-hand drawing room should be of sufficient 
size to accommodate its occupants and provided with 
a closet for models, easels and numerous other objects 
to be stowed away. A shelf for models, 18" wide 
and 2'6" from the floor, should be secured to the 
walls around all sides of the room, hinged at the top 



54 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

in sections so as to be folded away when not in use. 
A wood strip may be built into the walls at various 
heights, flush with the plaster, to support objects, 
casts, etc., and as a wall covering such as burlap, 
monk's cloth, etc., is usually put on the walls of the 
drawing room, these strips are covered from view, 
though accessible for the purpose for which they are 
intended. 

The mechanical-drawing room must have cases and 
lockers for instruments, materials, and drawing 
boards, the size of which may be obtained from cata- 
logues from the manufacturers furnishing such ar- 
ticles. In addition to the room proper, a closet for 
supplies and a small room for blue printing will be 
desirable. Blackboards are not necessary in either 
free-hand or mechanical drawing rooms, other than 
a movable board for demonstration by the instructor. 
Drawing tables are best when made of the pedestal 
type, as that variety is rigid and easy to clean. The 
height of such fixtures is regulated by a hand screw, 
which is adjustable, as well as the angle of the board 
itself, which is supplemented with a swing arm^ shelf 
for placing instruments, etc. 

In the larger and better equipped drawing rooms 
each pupil will own his own instruments, and a case 
of small lockers will be required in which to keep 
them locked up when not in use. A rack for small 
drawing boards of a uniform size is also required. 

MANUAL TRAINING 

The introduction of manual training in many of 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 55 

our modern schools requires special rooms, the former 
being best located in the basement of a sufficient ceil- 
ing height to allow for an abundance of light. When 
placed there, any noise or vibration which cannot be 
eliminated will be reduced to a minimum and little or 
no inconvenience on that account will be found in the 
class rooms above. There can be no standard sizes of 
rooms for manual training, as some schools make a 
specialty of this subject, while others elaborate some- 
where else. In general, the rooms should be well light- 
ed and arranged conveniently near, or adjoining, a 
supply room, tool room (wash and locker room if 
possible), and a room for instruction, the latter often 
at the end of the room proper. A room 24x40 feet 
might be the minimum size. 

In the larger schools, four shops are considered 
sufficient for instruction, namely, wood turning shop, 
advanced wood working shop, forge shop and machine 
shop. They may be grouped together or separated, 
as the plan will admit, but when grouped together a 
more economic arrangement will generally be found 
with respect to wash rooms, locker space, concentra- 
tion of noise, equipment, etc. Salt glazed brick or 
glazed tile is a desirable material for wall surface, as 
it is not porous and may be readily cleaned. 

The floors may be of concrete or wood, the former 
preferred for the machine shop. 

The ceiling must be especially constructed if lathes 
or other machinery be operated by shafting suspended 
from them, otherwise vibration or insufficient strength 
ma}^ materialize. Conduits for motors and machinery 



56 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

must be made before the building is too far completed 
to properly place them without disfigurement. 

Manual training rooms should be well lighted, and 
it is a mistake to place themx on a mezzanine or excep- 
tionally low basement, because a nearly horizontal 
light is very trying at a work bench. They require 
high, level lighting as much as the class rooms, but 
on account of their secondary importance in compari- 
son of use, ideal conditions are not always met with. 

Wood working benches will vary in size, accord- 
ing to manufacture, the average sizes being from 14" 
to 20" in width, 4'-0" to 6'-0" in length, and a height 
of 32" and 34" from top to floor. They are equipped 
with vice and flush cabinet makers, tail vice, and may 
open under top or be furnished with tool cases and 
drawers, as desired. Where two or more sets of pupils 
use the same benches, each scholar is supplied with a 
set of the more elementary tools, which he keeps lock- 
ed up, and for which he is held responsible, as to con- 
dition and safe keeping. 

In the advanced wood working shop the equipment 
will be different, and the classes smaller, although as 
great a floor area as for the wood turning shop will 
be required. Large work benches will be used, and 
possibly a band saw, planer, edger, sticker, circular 
saw and other machinery wnll be installed, most of 
which will be electric driven. 

The forge and machine shops will be equipped with 
miscellaneous machinery, similar to that found in any 
complete machine shop. All shops will require lockers 
for each pupil receiving instruction in that department. 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 57 

GYMNASIUM 

The gymnasium may be used for drills or athletic 
pursuits of various kinds, and is located preferably 
near the grade. The size of classes will vary from 50 
to 100 pupils. In some of the Eastern States high 
schools instruct the boys in military discipline, and 
when such is the case the gymnasium must be at least 
4000 square feet in area. Whatever be the size, the 
customary arrangement of this room is such that a 
narrow gallery or mezzanine runs around all sizes to 
be utilized for a running track or for seating purposes 
during exhibitions, etc. 

The importance of a gymnasium and its equipment 
may be determined by the size of ground available, 
amount of funds and size of the school itself. Where 
abundant ground area is to be had, as it often is in 
some sections of the country, and the school enroll- 
ment is not large, a gymnasium may vv^ell be dispensed 
with entirely and a small separate building constructed 
containing team rooms, showers, etc. Such a building 
may be connected with the main building by a covered 
collonade or cloister and featured architecturally, if 
desirable. 

The cost of a gymnasium of suitable height (24 
feet) incorporated in the school building itself, is con- 
siderable, and need only be supplied when sufiicient 
regular use warrants its provision. It might be said 
that no high school (with comparatively ample 
grounds) housing less than 500 pupils need have a 
modern gymnasium incorporated with the building 



58 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

itself. In large cities where the occupants can get 
exercise in no other way it is indispensable. 

GYMNASIUM (Additional Rooms) 

The management of a modern gymnasium and the 
other athletic interests of the school will require an 
instructor for whom a small adjoining room will be 
necessary. Lockers and dressing rooms are needed, 
preferably on both sides of the gymnasium (one side 
for girls, the other for boys), and shower baths. Each 
pupil will have a separate locker which will contain his 
athletic wardrobe, towels, etc. These may be of the 
ventilated metal variety, two tiers high and operated 
by keyless locks. 

GYMNASIUM (Equipment) 

This may be as elaborate as funds will permit and 
bears little relation to the architectural requirements. 

EQUIPMENT 

Equipment for installation in a high school build- 
ing may be divided into two general classes. The first 
include steachers' desks and chairs, tables, recitation 
seats, auditorium sittings, library and administration 
furniture and commercial desks. The first class dif- 
fers from the following class chiefly in that the items 
can be purchased as regularly made "stock" articles, 
and require no special design nor adaptation. Such 
equipment is generally arranged for by a separate ap- 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 59 

propriation and has but little to do with the architec- 
tural features of the building. 

The second class belongs to the building proper, 
and consists of equipment which is more permanently 
placed and must be provided for, or especially design- 
ed, as program clocks, electric bell systems, intercom- 
municating phones, hose reels, teachers' cabinets, lab- 
oratory, demonstration and work tables, balance coun- 
ters, wall cases, storage cupboards, benches, hoods, 
cabinets, etc. These items belong chiefly to what 
might be called the work rooms or laboratories, and 
are not required in the regular session and recitation 
rooms. Lockers may be included in either class, pre- 
ferably the latter, as the height of windows may effect 
their- location somewhat. (See laboratory and shop 
equipment under separate headings.) 

METAL LOCKERS 

Metal lockers may be obtained in almost any size 
or height for single or double tiers. The following 
sizes are those that are readily found in stock at any 
of the numerous concerns manufacturing such articles : 
Single tiers. 

12 X 12 X 36 

12x15x36 

15x18x36 



Double tier. 



12 X 12 X 60 
12x15x60 
12x15x60 
15x18x60 
18x18x60 



60 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

These articles are well made, sanitary in every re- 
spect and vermin proof. No wood locker can compare 
in any vv^ay mith them other than original cost, as they 
do not need repainting or repair work for several years, 
being practically indestructible. Combination locks 
are preferred to others. 

HEATING SYSTEMS 

The kind of heating apparatus for any school will 
necessarily be determined by the size of the building, 
compactness of plan, climatic conditions, fuel most 
readily obtained and other elements affecting not only 
its installation, but the upkeep. 

For small schools of eight class rooms and less, in 
a mild climate where wood, coal or oil may be readily 
obtained, good results are procured by the use of hot 
air furnaces, in conjunction, of course, with a mechani- 
cal ventilating apparatus which forces the air, either 
heated or otherwise, into the class rooms at a uniform 
temperature and quantity. The advantage of such an 
apparatus is cheapness of installation and upkeep, as 
no engineer need be employed to run the apparatus, 
and heat is quickly obtained with little cost. 

In large buildings the same system may, in some 
few instances, be used in mild climates. Where freez- 
ing weather is encountered, it will generally be found 
more economical and practical to use steam apparatus 
in connection with the mechanical ventilation for any 
building over eight class rooms in size, and often in 
those of a lesser number of class rooms. A steam in- 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 61 

stallation is more expensive to install and operat, un- 
less in use most of the time, in which case it will be 
found more economical than others. 

The modern high school building of 400 pupils or 
more will (in 90% of such buildings) be heated by 
steam, in which case the mechanical ventilation appa- 
ratus is used m all the principal rooms. Steam may 
be used direct in some rooms, as may be advisable, but 
class rooms are heated indirect in almost every in- 
stance. The upkeep is not so seriously considered, for 
an engineer is an essential factor in buildmgs of this 
class to care for dynamos, motors, pumpmg plants, 
etc., which are customarily installed in addition to, or 
in connection with the heating apparatus. 

In some of the new high schools in the larger cities 
the mechanical equipment is quite elaborate and en- 
tirely beyond the scope of this work. The require- 
ments are extensive and require the assistance of me- 
chanical engineers familiar with such work. 

HEATING AND VENTILATING 

"The importance of adequate artificial ventilation 
cannot be exaggerated, and modern school buildings 
are, as a rule, much better equipped in this respect than 
was formerly thought necessary. But it must be re- 
membered that though artificial ventilation is always 
an expensive luxury, both in first cost and in opera- 
tion and maintenance, it is, in practice, inseparably 
connected with the problem of heating, though the 



62 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

two functions are in theory wholly distant and inde- 
pendent." 

A modern mechanical heating and ventilating ap- 
paratus consists of a heater, radiating surface and a 
blower, which blows the air over or from the radiat- 
ing surface through ducts to the outlets of the various 
rooms. From here, being under pressure, it escapes 
through ducts to the various rooms and thence up to 
the roof. 

The principle is the same, no matter what medium 
is used to procure the results, whether hot air or steam 
be used, or whether the heater is fed with oil, coal or 
wood. There are many different kinds of mechanical 
heating and ventilating apparatus for schools, but they 
differ in detail, not in principle. 

Many not informed on heating and ventilation are 
confused by thinking that a steam heating plant for a 
school building cannot serve for mechanical ventila- 
tion the same as other kinds, but such is not the case, 
most buildings now being arranged so that both are 
in operation from the same plant at the same time. 

The heating apparatus should, when possible, be 
located near the center of the building, though it is 
not necessary from a mechanical standpoint. When 
so located, the runs of pipe will be of more equal length 
in all directions and the system more noiseless in op- 
eration. Long runs are successfully taken care of, 
but at greater expense and higher velocities. 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 63 

AMOUNT OF AIR REQUIRED 

The following requirements were outlined by the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts some thirty years 
ago and been practically standardized by the Fed- 
eral Government and eight States of the Union. 

"(1.) That the heating apparatus, properly man- 
aged, would heat all rooms to 70 degrees F. in any 
weather ; (2) that with rooms at 70 degrees and a dif- 
ference of not les than 40 degrees between the tem- 
perature of the outside air and that of the air entering 
the room, the apparatus would supply thirty cubic feet 
of air per minute for each scholar in the room ; (3) 
that such supply of air would so circulate in the room 
that no uncomfortable draft be felt, and that there 
should be no greater variation than 3 degrees in any 
part of the room on the same breathing plane ; (4) that 
an equal amount of air to the supply leave the room 
through exhaust flues ; (5) that the sanitary arrange- 
ments be properly ventilated and (6) that the working 
of the apparatus be guaranteed." 

Although the above outline is unquestionably more 
or less antiquated and inconsistent with the more ad- 
vanced theories and ideals of the present day, especially 
with refrence to the humidity and quality of air sup- 
plied, no changes of importance have been adopted to 
any extent. 

The fundamental principles underlying the require- 
ments for the ventilating of all class rooms require ZO 
cubic feet (or a trifle under one metre cube) of fresh 
air per minute for each pupil, up to the maximum num- 



64 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

ber allowed for the room in question ; while the heat- 
ing plant should be adequate to raise the temperatures 
of all rooms, exposed or otherwise, to 70 degrees 
Fahrenheit in the coldest weather that might occur. 

The average school room being 24 x 32 feet in size, 
with a ceiling height of 12^ feet, will contain 9800 
(approximately 10,000 cubic feet), which air must be 
changed from six to ten times per hour, according to 
opinions of heating engineers. Six changes represent- 
ing a minimum and ten changes being considered as 
being ample for ventilation of the highest standard. 
Assuming the average number of changes of air per 
hour, 80,000 cubic feet per hour would be required for 
such a room. Precisely the same quantities may be ar- 
rived at by assuming 45 pupils occupying a standard 
room, each of whom is to be provided with 30 cubic 
feet per minute, 30x45x60 would equal 81,000, or 
the number of cubic feet per hour. These conditions 
apply to class rooms, and so far most engineers will 
check; however, assembly halls, corridors and main 
rooms are heated and ventilated by a different for- 
mulae, in some cases omitting part of the heat, but not 
diminishing the ventilation, or a combination of the 
two. 

The assembly hall may be heated by direct radia- 
tion (usually steam coils or radiators) if it has plenty 
of large windows, doors, etc., to assist ventilation, in 
addition to more or less forced ventilation, or it may 
be heated and ventilated by tempered air as for class 
rooms. The use of the room generally determines the 
system to be used for assembly halls, which are fre- 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 65 

quently used for large gatherings and will require little 
heat after once being occupied, but a great amount of 
ventilation. 

Foot warmers are located in the entrance corridors 
of most schools, and sufficient heat is given forth from 
them, if they are properly placed and of ample radia- 
tion, to keep the corridors sufficiently warm. They 
consist of a register face, or similar grating in the 
floor, through which the heat passes. In some cases 
they are fed by tempered and fresh air from the plenum 
chamber, and in other arrangements for steam heat 
they consist of a set of steam coils througt^ which air 
passes out of and into the corridors. 

HEAT VENTILATING DUCTS 

The location of heating and ventilation stack and 
groups of flues are not always placed most theoreti- 
cally correct in the room, due to economic reasons 
that govern them, to a certain extent. Flues or ducts 
cannot come up in a room indiscriminately, and care 
is taken to have thern adjacent to one another, con- 
cealed, leaving the wall flush and without projection. 
This involves considerable ingenuity of the architect's 
plan and utter disregard to them would seriously dis- 
figure an otherwise suitable floor plan. They must be 
so placed as to insure a complete circulation of air and 
heat throughout the room, which means that the outlet 
is best placed on the same side of the room as the in- 
let, the heated air being blown into the room under 
pressure and scattering in different directions, to be 



66 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

picked up finally near where it originally entered. The 
heat outlets, or rather "heat inlets to room," are of 
various sizes up to 24"x30" in area for a standard 
class room and located 7'-6" above the floor. The 
face of heat inlets consists of a register face finished 
to match the hardware, or simply an iron wire grating. 
The vent flues from the sanitaries should be carried 
up separately to the tops of the main ventilators and 
should be so located that the horizontal runs, particu- 
larly from the fixtures in the basement, are as short 
as possible. In some instances these vents are ac- 
celerated by a small electric motor-driven fan, operat- 
ed independently from the main ventilating system. 

LOCATION OF FAN, FRESH AIR INLET, ETC. 

The school house being ordinary symmetrical, it is 
well to place the fan so that the discharge will lie 
along the axis of the building, and thus deliver an 
equal quantity of air in either direction. The primary 
chamber, which naturally adjoins the fan room, ought 
to have the fresh air chamber inlet so located above 
ground that dust, leaves, etc., cannot be drawn in. It 
is preferable to have the intake over a grass plot and 
at the rear of the building if to avoid a dusty street. 
In any case, the architect will, of course, avoid placing 
it near the toilet vent outlets or the chimney. 

MAIN DUCTS 

The horizontal galvanized ducts radiating from the 
fan in connection with the plenum system are often 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 67 

carried on the basement ceiling, which is furred down 
to conceal them and plastered. Another method is to 
run them beneath the basement floor, making them of 
brick or concrete and eliminating the furred ceilings, 
the former being practiced where plenty of ceiling 
height is available in the basement corridor, and the 
latter if to the contrary. 

When built of masonry, care must be taken to have 
the joints on the inside laid as smooth as possible and 
the proper formulae used in figuring, due to loss by 
friction, which is bound to be in evidence. ^Galvanized 
iron ducts are used almost exclusively for the convey- 
ance of air and all changes of direction made with 
easy curves. 

AIR WASHER 

An air washer is used with heating plants for large 
installations, or in cities where a considerable amount 
of soot, dust, etc., is encountered. The apparatus con- 
sists of a fine spraying device through which all the 
air is passed and which catches solid matters of any 
sort. Where the air intake is high enough up from 
the ground, and the surrounding air is clean and fresh, 
no air washer is necessary, and its use may be well 
dispensed with, as it consumes considerable water, the 
principal cost of its upkeep. 

SANITATION 

(See toilet rooms for number of fixtures. 
Modern fixtures are utilized almost exclusively 



68 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

now in school buildings, and no other types need be 
mentioned here other than those, the unsanitary range 
closets being used only in the cheapest of buildings. 
Modern fixtures consist of individual fixtures — in some 
cases more properly termed individual units in bat- 
teries — and in either case the bowls are white vitreous 
or semi-china glazed ware. 

For separate fixtures, a wash-down bowl with 
syphon action or jet will be found adequate, and if a 
sufficient water surface is provided for, proper vent 
and depth of seal obtained, either type will give satis- 
faction. The operation of fixture may be by pull 
(chain or rod), valve or seat action, the latter being 
used almost exclusively as it insures a flush automa- 
tically and prevents a minimum number of exposed 
parts to be tampered with. There are a great number 
of different manufacturers of plumbing fixtures, each 
putting on the market practically the same products at 
practically the same prices, although it is commonly 
expressed that "So and So's" fixtures are the best. As 
a matter of fact, almost any manufacturer of plumbing 
fixtures can give you any type of fixture at about the 
same cost as manufactured by others. The only dif- 
ference will be found in details that only one of ex- 
perience can determine. The average school board 
can well leave the selection of plumbing fixtures to 
the architect, provided they insist on the above re- 
quirements, and that the fixtures specified are event- 
ually installed. 

Fixtures are usually arranged in groups, back to 
back, with a utility chamber between, of 24" in width, 



SCHOOLc BUILDINGS 69 

in which the tank or tanks, pipes, etc., are placed, and 
in some cases this space is used as a vent. 

Stall partitions can be of any size and any material 
— wood, slate, plaster, composition or marble. A good 
material and a cheap one is being extensively used, 
consisting of a metal frame reinforced with light iron 
channels, covered with metal lath and plastered, the 
exposed sides being finished with Keene's cement. 
This makes a partition 2" in thickness, absolutely rigid, 
and when painted as non-porous and sanitary as any 
other material except metal or marble. ^ 

The partitions are set about 12" above the floor 
and extend to 5'-6" except at the back where partition 
runs full height (6'-6") from the floor and is roofed over 
the utility chamber. Doors may be used or not, as desir- 
ed, although it is customary to omit them in grammar 
schools. When used they are short doors hung on 
spring butts and rarely provided with locks. 

Urinals for grammar schools are still unsanitary 
fixtures, and probably always will be, for while modern 
fixtures have been improved upon in every conceivable 
way^ carelessness on the part of the user cannot be 
overcome in a public building. Care should be taken 
that the back is of non-porous material, that it is well 
flushed at all times, that the foot trough is enameled 
ware and well flushed, trapped and ventilated. The 
fixture may have partitions or not, and if so, they must 
also be of non-porous material. Separate urinals with 
automatic flush are usually installed in high schools, 
and there are manufactured at the present time white 
porcelain units — back, sides and troughs, with a min- 



70 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

imum number of parts — that are theoretically perfect 
as far as manufacture is concerned, but which are too 
expensive and not far enough in advance over the sepa- 
rate lip urinal to warrant their use in public schools. 

DRINKING FOUNTAINS 

Drinking fountains are now manufactured of the 
porcelain or metal "bubbling cup" pattern, either sepa- 
rate fixtures with a porcelain pedestal or units of two 
or more, arranged over a porcelain sink with a high 
back. Drinking cups are of the dark ages, and the old 
type is not to be considered ; in fact, they are prohibited 
by law in the States of Massachusetts, Wisconsin, 
Illinois, Kansas and Oaklahoma. 

SHOWERS 

Showers for gymnasiums or play rooms may be as 
elaborate as desired. The simplest form would be 
merely a spray and drain in the floor, screened off from 
the dressing room, and which would cost practically 
nothing; both spray and pipe galvanized. More satis- 
factory fixtures would be stalls 3'-0" x 3'-0" in size, 
with non-porous sides and back, with sprays and mix- 
ing chamber (hot water should be provided for) and 
dressing rooms, either one room with bench or separate 
stalls. Marble is the most attractive material to use 
for stalls, sides and floors, but composition will be 
found suitable and much cheaper. The size of the 
school should determine the elaborateness of its fit- 
tings as far as showers are concerned, for if hot water 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 71 

is supplied, provision for it will be much cheaper in 
comparison in a large school than in a small one. Hot 
water is supplied by a tank with steam coils, a simple 
proposition where steam is used in other parts of the 
building. Otherwise, a separate apparatus may be 
installed, automatic and using gas as a fuel. 

STAND PIPES 

In a fire-proof building these are not necessary, as 
what furniture, papers, etc., that might take fire may 
be easily extinguished without the use of water. Where 
wood is used in any part of the construction or trim, 
stand pipes are run from basement up through the 
roof at such places as may readily lend themselves 
to a 60-foot run of fire hose. The stand pipes should 
be at least 2" in diameter, with 1^" outlets at each 
floor and roof. Hose reels are made in many differ- 
ent patterns and can be set in the wall and covered 
with a glass case flush with the plaster. In any case 
the hose should be overhauled at least once a year, as 
it is likely to crack or rot where folded. 

ELECTRIC LIGHTING 

Some school buildings will require very little arti- 
ficial light unless utilized for night school. Buildings 
having assembly halls will require more or less elab- 
orate lighting, including corridors, entrance and toilet 
rooms. 

It is well to provide ample wiring for all rooms, 
which, if not utilized, will be in place when desired 



72 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

without having to be installed at a later date and at a 
much greater cost and often with considerable disfig- 
urement to wall and ceiling surfaces. 

The class room ceiling lights are usually of the 
chandelier type, very plain and substantial, as they 
are difficult to clean and unsightly when otherwise. 
Holyphane reflectors are used, the fixtures operated by 
flush-plate switch. Indirect lighting is very desirable 
in class rooms, as no fixtures are required from the 
ceiling. However, it is quite expensive, requiring more 
light equivalent. 

Corridor lights may be enclosed in an opalescent 
glass half-dome, set against the ceiling. These fixtures 
will require no cleaning whatever, and are of decidedly 
neat appearance. 

The assembly hall may have side brackets and in- 
direct lighting around the ceiling treatment, eliminat- 
ing suspended fixtures entirely. The stage may have 
platform and proscenium lights, which are also con- 
cealed and operated from a cut-out box located in an 
adjoining dressing room. All fixtures in this room 
should be controlled by cut-out switch, as there may 
be times when it is desirable to cut out all lights, for 
stereopticon, moving picture apparatus, etc. 

ELECTRIC WIRING 

In connection with wiring for lights, additional 
wiring is required for installation to motor for ventil- 
ating apparatus, stereopticon or similar apparatus for 
assembly hall and science lecture room, or both, 



SCHOOLi BUILDINGS 73 

physics laboratory, for motors in shops and for other 
special purposes. The location of cut-out boxes, 
panel boards, switches, arrangement of wiring, etc., 
will require the assistance of an engineer and detail of 
much importance, but out of the scope of this work. 

TELEPHONES 

Inter-communicating telephones are installed in all 
modern buildings, and their cost is an incredibly small 
item. The instruments for the teachers are placed on 
the wall of the class rooms, and those in the principal's 
offices are of the desk pattern. Each in%trument has 
a push button box with buttons for all stations, so that 
communication may be had direct to any station with- 
out the use of an exchange or an operator of any kind. 
The entire apparatus may be connected to local city 
service with small additional cost. 

PROGRAM CLOCKS 

Program clocks are operated by electricity, com- 
pressed air, weights or springs, any of which are made 
self-winding, and the ordinary automatic apparatus 
consists of a Master's clock with secondary clocks for 
as many rooms as is desired, which, in addition to fur- 
nishing time instruments for school purposes, operates 
one or more programs by ringing bells in the corri- 
dors, shops, etc., at whatever time they may be set for. 
One program is usually enough, but additional ones 
may be added to any of the apparatus with little cost. 
By using a modern program clock, each class room 



74 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

may have a neat flush plate dust-proof dial of the same 
pattern, and no conflict can occur from variation in 
time in different parts of the building. Winding is 
entirely eliminated; in fact, the apparatus has been 
sufficiently demonstrated practical and of reasonable 
enough cost of installation for any modern school. 

VACUUM CLEANING APPARATUS 

The vacuum cleaning apparatus has made such 
rapid strides in its mechanical efficiency that it may 
be safely said that no modern school building should 
be constructed without at least making provision for 
piping during construction. This cost is insignificant 
in amount and will eliminate a later installation with 
exposed piping, and more or less patching of ceiling, 
etc. 

An apparatus of appropriate design, properly in- 
stalled, affords a practical method of dustless school 
cleaning, a method that by a mechanical suction act- 
ually picks up the dust and dirt from the floors, fur- 
niture, chalk rails, walls, etc., and deposits in suitable 
receptacles. 

Portable machines are entirely inadequate for a 
school building, except in buildings of less than four 
rooms, where their use may or may not be considered 
satisfactory, therefore their use need not be discussed 
in detail here. 

On each floor the piping has one or more outlets to 
which flexible hose can be attached, of sufficient 
length to reach all parts of rooms to be cleaned; the 
tool and handle vary, according to the character of 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 75 

cleaning to be done, whether floor, wall, ceiling, fur- 
niture, etc. 

SIZE OF PLANT 

Vacuum cleaners of the stationary type vary in 
size from the smallest or "one-sweeper" plants to as 
large a plant as may be necessary to permit the clean- 
ing of a large building by a force of several janitors. 
The usual term describing size is "one-sweeper," "four- 
sweeper" or "twelve-sweeper," according to the num- 
ber of floor brushes that can be simultaneously op- 
erated. 

Few school buildings except in the larger cities, 
will require more than a one-sweeper or possibly a 
two-sweeper plant, and no attempt will be made in 
this article to consider larger units, since they assume 
the proportions of engineering problems, and no school 
board should attempt their installation without the 
assistance of competent consulting engineers. 

Permanent piping should be installed, concealed in 
partitions, taking care that outlets and cleanout open- 
ings are extended through partitions, and may be of 
the ordinary commercial iron or steel pipe arranged, 
so far as possible, in vertical risers with a minimum 
of horizontal runs. 

It is necessary to have outlets in every school room, 
and the location in corridors should be selected with 
reference to school room doors. 

Outlets or hose connections are flush with base- 
board and are nickle or finished to correspond with 
other furnishings. 



76 SCHOOL, BUILDINGS 

HOSE 

Fifty feet of hose is a convenient length and 
seventy-five feet is not impossible. The hose may be 
of rubber or metal covered, and hose smaller than one 
inch, inside diameter, is not practical, larger than one 
and one-half inch is too cumbersome. Whatever the 
variety is, it should come in twenty-five-foot lengths 
and have convenient air-tight couplings. 

TOOLS (VACUUM CLEANING) 

In some school rooms, with the ordinary type of 
school desk attached to the floor at four points, the 
use of vacuum cleaner tools is attended with some dif- 
ficulty, therefore, especially designed shapes are re- 
quired to work around desk legs. Sanitary furniture 
with single pedestal desks and seats, is ideal for 
vacuum cleaning, and larger cities are gradually 
adopting this type of seat. The particular type of tool 
to use depends on the surface to be cleaned. For 
smooth, bare floors, tools are less efficient than on 
comparatively rough surface. In general, they are 
from ten to eighteen inches long, and perhaps three 
inches wide. Felt pads or rows of bristles serve to 
prevent too great an admission of air and to localize 
this admission of air where the inrush will draw up 
the dirt and dust. For walls and chalk trays, a circu- 
lar brush with long bristles and leather cuff is ad- 
visable. 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 77 

SCHOOL LAWS (Building, Etc.) 

In Germany, France and England, all public in- 
struction is carried on in buildings very exact in re- 
quirements, construction and convenience, and in the 
United States some States have definite laws in this 
respect, patterned more or less after the Massachusetts 
State law, which is a standard so far in this country. 
The time is not far distant when all States will have 
laws and regulations which will be practically uni- 
form in each, not only with reference to the construc- 
tion, arrangement, sanitation, etc., of school buildings, 
but in the matter of method of selecting the architects' 
competitions, etc. The principles of school planning 
are comparatively uniform for all parts of the coun- 
try, varying only in detail, due to climatic conditions 
and the public's standard of ideals. For those inter- 
ested, reference may be had to the school laws of 
Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, 
Pennsylvania, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, 
Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kansas, New 
Hampshire and Minnesota. 

Other States have laws relating to fire-escapes and 
minor details with reference to school buildings, but 
no complete or modern rules and regulations. 

COMPETITIONS 

Competitions are conducted by private and munici- 
pal bodies for the supposed election of an architect, 
who, by the terms of such competition, successfully 
demonstrates that he is more fitted for the purpose of 



78 SCHOOL. BUILDINGS 

preparing plans and specifications of suitable design, 
than his fellow contestants. In many communities 
competitors are required by law or custom, and it is 
quite likely that they will continue to be utilized for 
such a purpose for some time to come, with, fortunate- 
ly, many of the unsatisfactory conditions eliminated 
that are now incorporated, and more sane ones sub- 
stituted. 

Any public community> supporting a new building 
proposition is entitled to the most artistic and skillful 
conception of such improvement. 

When a new building is needed, it is the duty of 
those in charge to select an architect either by com- 
petition or otherwise, who is best fitted for the pur- 
pose. If, by competition, the program for such must 
be drawn up in such a manner as to place all compet- 
ing architects on an equal basis, and a selection made 
under careful advisement by some competent and dis- 
interested architect of sufficient professional standing 
as to be beyond public criticism. The municipal laws 
in some localities require that the members of the 
governing body (supervisors, school trustees, etc.,) 
must select the architect, and such being the case, they 
have the opportunity of securing as much professional 
advisement as they may desire. 

Successful men in any vocation of life are capable 
to a certain extent of handling the problems that arise 
in their own professions and business, and should 
readily recognize a skilled architect's ability to per- 
form his services in a professional manner to the extent 
that, assuming a competition has been conducted in a 



SCHOOL BUILDINGS 79 

proper manner in the preparation of preliminary plans, 
a selection should be made only under the careful 
advisement of a consulting architect who has sufficient 
knowledge at his disposal to show how and why one 
or more plans, etc., are best suited to their needs, and 
conforming strictly to the program as called for. 

In no other way does a so-called composition fulfill 
the end for which it was intended, namely, to select 
the architect most fitted for the work at hand, for, 
owing to the fact that the commissions of all reliable 
architects is the same, no other qualification is intended 
in a competition. 

No architect of good standing will •nter into a 
competition which is not conducted in such a manner 
as to allow him to compete on an equal basis for selec- 
tion as that of his contemporaries, and if the architects 
do not compete on an equal basis, time and money is 
wasted by both municipality and themselves, and a 
better way of procedure would be to select him with- 
out competition. 

When a board cannot make a selection outright of 
an architect for various reasons, and decides that a 
competition is necessary, they may dodge absolute 
criticism by conducting it in the most approved man- 
ner. 

The American Institute of Architects supplies 
"Public Information," on the conduct and arrangement 
of competitons, which, if followed, will insure a most 
fair method of procedure for the municipality and one 
under which no architect in good standing will hesitate 
to compete under. 



80 SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

Our National Government, and all of the large 
cities, conduct competitions after the outline as recom- 
mended by the American Institute of Architects, and 
it is only in some of the remote districts where com- 
petitions occur very rarely that they are conducted 
otherwise, and then from lack of proper information 
.on such subjects. 

The American Institute of Architects do not assume 
to dictate the conduct of competitions, but aim only 
to assist by advising the adoption of such methods as 
long experience has proven to be just and wise; in 
brief, they insist in general on only two requirements. 
First, that competing architects shall be given the op- 
portunity to compete on an equal basis ; second, that 
the selecting body have professional advisement of 
recognized standing in making the selection. They 
do not discriminate against any individual, whether 

he be a member of their institution or otherwise, and 
any public body or individual may obtain, gratis, 

printed information desired on "Competitions," by 
mere request from "The American Institute of Archi- 
tects," Washington, D. C. 



m n 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



020 3 



3 270 



